Morning all,
This rant has been partly inspired by a blog post by the wonderful PZ Myers, but also because it's something very important to me. I have a few gay friends, not to enhance my SATC credentials - they are just friends of mine who happen to be gay - and it pisses me off when I read shite like this.
I was raised a Catholic, in a deeply religious family. As a child, I used to vounteer to read at mass. When I was older I led the church choir and taught Sunday school. To me, Jesus always seemed like a really cool guy. He talked about loving and respecting people, regardless of their past misdemeanors or place of birth or status in society.
Somehow, I cannot imagine Jesus approaching an openly gay couple, telling them that god does not love them, or that they are going to hell. Sites like this just don't sit in with Jesus' general "Live and let live" ethos, surely?
Why is the sexuality of others so offensive? I am not a christian any more (because I was sick of the hypocrisy and inequality that the church talked about a lot, but did very little to help) but I reckon Jesus would rip the piss out of any one of these nutjobs preaching hatred towards other human beings. Let's not forget here, that it was in this Bronze Age manual (John 8:7?) where Jesus openly criticised the hypocrites? Correct me if I'm wrong.
Absolutely.
ReplyDeleteWe were in London today, visiting the excellent Royal Society's annual event and passed by the Gay Pride event in Trafalgar Square (which we hadn't realised was on today or we would have watched the parade). Saw a poster like the one above, but said "Some animals are gay. Get over it!"
It was great to see so many having fun, and doing nobody any harm!
However, we came across one corralled group of 20 or so, slightly away from Trafalgar Square, waving bibles and spouting various verses form it...you can guess the kind of thing. One passer by asked them how old the earth was (six thousand years)...a gay couple snogged in front of them (but they didn't really seem that bothered!). They were brave folks and presumably saw it as their god-given duty to try to save everyone there from their hell...I doubt they succeeded!
I've never been religious myself, but I have always wondered why homosexuality is frowned upon by people that believe in a God that said something along the lines of 'God created all men equal' and 'in his own image'. Excuse the undertones of blasphemy if I've got those quotes totally wrong, but I enjoyed your post. It's sad to think that in this day and age (not that it was ever okay) people still can't accept another human beings sexual orientation. Good blog :)
ReplyDelete@Zeno Cheers for the twitter link to SkepticatUK blog, thumbs ups abound!
ReplyDeletehttp://skepticat.wordpress.com/
@Kate
Yeah I'm always curious as to why they care so much! You'd think gay couples would be the least likely to need an abortion for a start. To be honest though, it's the virulent hatred that I don't understand. How can someone carry so much hate inside them and convince themselves that it is from some bearded legend in the sky?
No worries about blasphemy, I'm pretty sure god can handle it ;-)
Thanks very much for the comments, I'm sorry I took so long to respond! x x